Public Safety

The Galax Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call at 113 Religion Road in Piper’s Gap on Friday, where a trailer had reportedly caught fire.

The department received the call at 4:25 p.m. on March 14, and responding firefighters found smoke and flames showing at the scene. Crews were on scene for about an hour, commanded by Assistant Chief Mark Burnett, according to the fire report.

Piper’s Gap Rescue stood by at the scene, and the Hillsville Fire Department sent an engine and manpower to stand by at the Galax station.

A Galax man was arrested on drug charges on March 6, according to a police department report.
Garnett Alan Price, 60, was charged by Officer Drew Burnett after a traffic stop. Price was charged with reckless driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a Schedule I/II narcotic, possession of a Schedule III narcotic and possession of a Schedule IV narcotic.
Price was released on bond pending his appearance in the Galax General District Court.

HILLSVILLE — A single-vehicle crash Sunday on Greenberry Road led to the death of a 37-year-old Winston-Salem, N.C., man, according to the Virginia State Police.
Trooper J.R. Alderman responded to Greenberry Road, a little more than a half-mile north of Horton Road in Carroll County, after a 6:45 p.m. report of a crash involving a 2001 Cadillac, according to the report.
The incident occurred when the vehicle was traveling north on Greenberry when it ran off the right side of the road, struck an embankment and a tree and overturned.

Animal Control officer Veronica Bryant is warning the Galax community about a recent problem of dogs running loose in the city.
Opening the door to let the dog outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes to use the bathroom, could result in more than an owner’s typical fears of the dog getting lost or killed in a car accident.

HILLSVILLE — When emergency responders fought knee-deep snow to reach a cardiac patient in Hillsville during last month’s winter storm, a citizen not only saved the day for paramedics and firefighters, but also might have saved the patient’s life.
Mike Musser, assistant chief of the Hillsville Fire Department, wrote to The Gazette last week to recognize Orba Semones for his assistance on the call.
He said firefighters “had an occasion to witness something quite extraordinary” in Semones’ kindness.